Harrington & Richardson revolver

Harrington & Richardson, located in Worcester,
Massachusetts, was founded in 1871 by Gilbert H. Harrington, the
inventor of the top-break revolver, and William A. Richardson. By
1876, H&R had become sufficiently established to be represented
at the National Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, where the
company exhibited 24 of its pistols.

In 1880, H&R achieved another significant milestone in
becoming the sole American licensee for the manufacturer of quality
English Anson & Deely double-barrel hammerless shotguns, and in
1900, the company introduced its own top-break single barrel
shotgun. In the years prior to the First World War, Harrington
& Richardson's product line expanded to include other shotguns
and revolvers. In addition, H&R produced an improved
semi-automatic pistol patterned after British Webley & Scott,
as well as the Handy Gun, a top break single-shot pistol that was
available in various calibers and small-bore shotgun gauges.

During the First World War, the company received a contract for
shoulder-type flare guns. This was the first of many military
contracts that H&R would receive from the U.S. government,
marking the beginning of a long association of arms production in
support of American troops. After the war, Harrington &
Richardson redesigned its handgun line. Among the arms introduced
during this period was the U.S.R.A. single-shot target pistol,
which featured a short hammer fall and crisp trigger pull. The
U.S.R.A. pistol became the standard of the U.S. Army pistol team
and was used to set a new U.S. pistol record in 1932. Prior to the
Second World War, the company manufactured .38 caliber revolvers
for British police use. These pistols, which were also available on
the U.S. commercial market, were the first firearms ever carried by
British "Bobbies".

In addition to these revolvers, H&R also produced handcuffs
and leg irons for police use. When the United States went to war
again in 1941, H&R produced the Reising .45 caliber submachine
gun under contract with Eugene Reising, the gun's inventor. These
delayed blowback arms, which fired from closed bolt, were more
accurate than conventional "slam fire" submachine guns such as the
Thompson, but Army acceptance tests showed that the Reising's close
tolerances caused function problems when not cleaned regularly or
when operated in dirty conditions. With Thompson production
earmarked for Army and Lend-Lease purchases, the Marine Corps
adopted the Reising, in both conventional wood stock and folding
metal stock models, to supplement its insufficient submachine gun
inventory. Reisings saw action on Guadacanal, where their
performance was problematic due to the near impossibility of
keeping them clean under jungle combat conditions.

The Marines received their last Reisings in 1943, after which
they were withdrawn from front line use as additional Thompsons and
M1 carbines became available. Approximately 100,000 Reisings were
manufactured, including some for Lend-Lease sales to the Soviet
Union. A semi-automatic civilian version was also produced for use
by defense plant and prison guards. After the war, H&R
discontinued production after attempts to sell Reisings to police
departments failed due to the ready availability of surplus
military arms. During the Korean War, Harrington & Richardson
once again turned its production lines to the manufacture of
military arms.

On April 3, 1952, H&R received an order for 100,000 M1
rifles plus spare parts, and the first deliveries were made a year
later. The company's experience as producer of firearms enabled it
to begin production without the start-up problems experienced by
other military contract arms producers, including International
Harvester. Unlike other M1 manufacturers, H&R also made
extensive use of subcontractor-produced parts and components in
their rifles.

The end of hostilities in July 1953 meant that most
H&R-produced rifles were added to postwar inventories. The
company continued to receive additional contracts for the M1, and
by the time production ceased in 1956, H&R had produced 428,600
rifles. The end of production did not mark the end of the company's
association with John Garand's rifle, as H&R later received a
contract to rebuild 50,000 M1 rifles in 7.62mm NATO caliber for the
U.S. Navy. In late 1954, Harrington & Richardson received an
additional contract to conduct an engineering study aimed at
production of 500 T48 rifles, an American version of the Belgian FN
FAL .30 caliber rifle which was under consideration as a possible
successor to the M1 as the U.S. military's standard battle
rifle.

In 1957, the Army adopted the Springfield Armory-developed M14,
which was based on John Garand's original M1 design. These rifles
becamethe first multi-purpose American infantry rifle, replacing
the M1 rifle, M1 carbine, Browning Automatic Rifle, and M3
submachine gun. As with the M1, the Army issued contracts for the
M14 to Winchester and H&R to supplement production at
Springfield Armory. H&R's tool-up and manufacture began
quickly, with the company utilizing machinery left over from M1
production, but problems arose with subcontracted parts. To further
complicate manufacturing efforts, inspectors discovered cracks in
some receivers. H&R's M14 production came to a halt as the Army
changed both metallurgical and heat treatment specifications for
these rifles. With problems now corrected, H&R was able to make
up for lost production time and get back on schedule by August
1961.

By the time production ceased, Harrington & Richardson had
manufactured over 500,000 M14s, making the company the largest
manufacture of these rifles. H&R also produced the M16 "black
rifle" under contract with the Department of Defense, as well as
the M4 survival rifle, a .22 Hornet/.410 combination gun
manufactured for use by U.S. Air Force flight crews. Harrington
& Richardson exists today, but under a new name, the New
England Firearms/H&R 1871. In addition to producing a complete
line of pistols, rifles, and shotguns based on their earlier
designs and ranging from inexpensive to presentation-grade models,
the company is a U.S. distributor for British-made Webley &
Scott shotguns.